puppet kingdom (land of everlasting smiles)
by Xephonia
Summary: Yuuya wants everyone in his theater to smile, no matter the cost.


"Ladies and gentlemen! We're here for another great theater performance!" Yuuya shouts, and his limbs are stiff, but he has to keep going. He has to make his audience smile, right?

Most of them are smiling already, but they barely move, if at all.

 _They're been here for a long time, after all._

Yuuya smiles, because they smile and that in turn encourages him to keep going.

He waves the actors to come in; there are less of them than before. Yuuya is okay with that; it means the ones who are missing will join the audience in their joy.

He notices that it's hard to move his elbow, but the audience doesn't seem to notice. They have two new guests!

Lately, Yuuya hasn't gotten so many new guests, and with the shrinking number of actors, he's had to act on his own quite a lot. He hopes that these new guests will join them in their fun. One looks a lot like him, the other - Shun? Yuuya thinks that was his name - looks like he hasn't smiled in a while. Yuuya knows Shun's sister, she's one of the backup actresses. Or is she already part of the audience?

 _Just a few more and then they'll all smile!_

He moves his hands, and so the actors move as well, showing a play of smiles and peace, as peaceful as the audience as is.

* * *

 _He doesn't smile._

Yuuya is panicking. His theater is not as peaceful as before, people wear scowls instead of smiles, and it all started with Kaito.

 _Why doesn't he smile?_

Kaito is on stage, he doesn't act according to the script, Yuuya's hands can't move him like the other actors.

In the audience, Shun moves. He looks angry, Yuuya thinks, and he wonders why.

 _This place is a utopia, shouldn't everyone smile?_

He can't let his utopia fall!

His limbs heavy, Yuuya jumps in, improvises, smiles. "If everyone smiles, the future will be ours!"

He sees some smiles in the audience, and he tries to wave, but his wrist bone is as if it's frozen.

 _Maybe I'm ill? I guess I'll find out after the performance._

"There is no future in the kingdom of puppets you've created," Kaito hisses, and he takes a step forward before slapping Yuuya.

 _That doesn't hurt? Weird._

Yuuya doesn't budge. "What are you talking about, Kaito? We're in the middle of a performance!" He tries to spread his arms a little, barely succeeding.

"A performance I'm not part of, anymore. Shun, Yuuto!" Kaito leaps from the stage, running to the two guests.

Yuuya doesn't understand. The one who looks a lot like him - Yuuto? - is smiling, he's just like the rest of his audience, isn't that great?

 _Why would Kaito want to take the smiles away?_

"He doesn't move." Shun says, and he looks away.

"We have to go. Now. Or else we'll never get out of here," Kaito insists, and Yuuya wonders why Kaito is so good at moving his limbs suddenly.

"Don't you want to continue the performance? The audience is waiting for it!"

They ignore Yuuya; Kaito grabs Shun's wrist, Shun yanks it back free.

"We can't go without Yuuto!"

"We can come back later!"

Yuuya shakes his head and fakes a pout, then he smiles. "My, my, don't argue! The fun has just begun!" The spotlight is on him, he enjoys it, he sees his audience's expressions returning to the unmoving smiles they should be, and that's what counts.

"We had some problems with the actors, but that's no problem! We have backup, because the smiles never stop! I ask Ruri and Haruto to come to the stage!"

Kaito freezes on the spot, falling to his knees. "Haruto is...?"

 _Even when his brother is about to be on stage, he doesn't smile? Maybe I chose a boring play for today? No way!_

Shun curses under his breath. "Release Ruri!"

 _Release? What is he saying? She is here because she wants to smile!_

"HARUTO!" Kaito shouts, and he runs to where Haruto is seated, shaking him. Haruto doesn't move the slightest bit. "Haruto! If you are already... then..."

"Oh, my mistake," Yuuya says, and he exaggeratedly lets his shoulders slump. "I forgot they are part of the audience, silly me! If you would take a seat next to your siblings?"

A moment of silence passes, Yuuya hears Kaito say "sorry", but he doesn't know for what.

 _Saying sorry is so unlike Kaito, maybe the smiles finally reach him?_

Kaito and Shun do as they are told, and Yuuya wonders why their movements are less fluid than before.

 _Maybe it's because they're smiling?_

He finds his own thought silly, and he giggles. "I'll continue the performance alone then!"

They smile.

* * *

Yuuya lies in his bed, happy with his work, but he figures that he should go see his audience, given that they are here all the time.

His legs barely move, he grimaces, but quickly fixes it back into a smile before he somewhat awkwardly sits down at the border of the stage. "Hello, everyone! We finally did it, everyone smiles!"

 _They are great listeners._

 _It's cold_ , he finds, and Yuuya figures that sitting down within the audience would give him some warmth.

So he goes to sit down next to Yuzu, but her hand is cold as always. Her smile is always the same, though, so it's fine.

She was the first to suddenly decide to stay, and her presence has since motivated him, although she's since stopped speaking.

"Thanks, Yuzu."

Yuuya smiles, and he feels that he can't move his features anymore.

 _But isn't it fine? Finally... we all..._

 _smile._

* * *

"No one has entered or left this theater in three years," Yuuri says, and he's visibly annoyed over having to visit that place. "Sure, people say it's cursed, but we're cops, we have more important, and for that matter, less boring things to deal with."

"Let's just get it over with." Dennis sounds amused as he opens the doors of the small theater.

For a moment, they just stare. Yuuri is the first to open his mouth again.

"...Dolls?"


End file.
